New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India remains steadfast in its resolve that fugitives of the country are brought back to face justice and all efforts would continue to bring back Mehul Choksi who is wanted in a major banking fraud here.
"Let me emphasise that India remains steadfast in its efforts to ensure that fugitives are brought back to India to face justice," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters at an online press briefing.
Referring to the case of Choksi, he said the diamantaire is currently in the custody of Dominican authorities and certain legal proceedings are underway there.
"We will continue to make all efforts to ensure that he is brought back to India," he said.
The MEA spokesperson refused to go into further details, saying it is in the domain of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was replying to a batch of questions regarding Choksi who had fled the country.
Meanwhile, a Dominica magistrate has denied bail to absconding diamond tycoon Mehul Choksi, who was arrested on May 23 for alleged illegal entry to the Caribbean island country, the local media reported. Choksi, wanted here in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), pleaded before the magistrate that he was abducted and forcibly brought to Dominica from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda, about 100 nautical miles away, Dominica News Online reported.
The 62-year-old wheelchair-bound diamantaire, who has a pending Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) against him, arrived before the presiding Roseau Magistrate Court in a black pair of shorts and a blue T-shirt from the Dominica China Friendship Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. The Dominica High Court, which was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Choksi, had ordered him to be presented before the magistrate to face charges of illegal entry.